The Federal Government needs to adopt the June 2020 Productivity Commission (PC) recommendation for the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) fixing superannuation data gaps, and stick to it, according to Super Consumers Australia.
In a submission filed in response to the Senate Selection Committee on Financial Technology and Regulatory Technology, the SCA expressed concern that debates over superannuation data had dragged on for years and needed to be addressed.
It also called for common standards and sources of data to address the lack of common standards in superannuation.
“There is currently little agreement over a common standard for comparison of superannuation products,” it said. “For example, what one fund might classify as a growth investment option, another will classify as balanced. Without ‘apples with apples’ comparisons an open data regime may further complicate decision making and ultimately lead to poor outcomes for consumers.”
“Fortunately there are solutions to this problem in the enhanced data collection and presentation role the regulator APRA has undertaken,” the submission said. “Before the power of open data can be harnessed APRA needs to refine and expand its capacity for data collection (e.g. collection in relation to ‘choice’ products and bundled insurance).”
“We are concerned that debates in superannuation about data collection have dragged on for years. There is a clear need for some hard deadlines, the Productivity Commission recommended APRA address these data reporting gaps within 18 months (June 2020) of it handing down its report. We encourage the Federal Government to adopt this deadline,” it said.
The lower outlook for inflation has set the stage for another two rate cuts over the first half of 2026, according to Westpac.
With private asset valuations emerging as a key concern for both regulators and the broader market, Apollo Global Management has called on the corporate regulator to issue clear principles on valuation practices, including guidance on the disclosures it expects from market participants.
Institutional asset owners are largely rethinking their exposure to the US, with private markets increasingly being viewed as a strategic investment allocation, new research has shown.
Australia’s corporate regulator has been told it must quickly modernise its oversight of private markets, after being caught off guard by the complexity, size, and opacity of the asset class now dominating institutional portfolios.